zoom effects

 During the past year I have had a number of rather varied experiences with zoom/digital meetings. Yes, I know, they have been very helpful in keeping us all somewhat connected, and I would not want to talk against that. Last week Saturday I was having a very moody and weepy kind of day until I saw Pam's email 'join ongoing zoom meeting', clicked, and was connected with the group in Tennessee/Texas whom I had joined for their zoom sewing before thanks to my friend Debbie who invited me to join them, they have been doing it for almost every week since the pandemic started. This past Saturday a week ago it was a real help for me. Got me out of the slump, I sat down at the machine to get some stitching done, I felt a lot better afterwards.

 

The day before that I had treated myself to a huge (in fact, too huge) pot of ice cream from the new ice cream place in town after I finished my turn on ICU.

The good stuff is hidden under the cream, but
I think a treat ice cream has to have cream, too.

Those were some intensive weeks. Didn't leave me with a lot of strength for sewing. All I could do is some spinning and plying. So perhaps the weepyness on that Saturday was still due to that episode. 

On the other hand, zoom interactions don't have the quality of real interactions - and, to be honest, seeing people on that screen, usually from some unflattering angle and not well lit is not an improvement over a phone call, so in interactions with only one other person I would still always prefer a normal phone conversation. But I suppose these are growing completely old-fashioned now.

During our last sessions in school we have been treated to a separation of the class, one half is in one room, one in the next room, the teacher is transmitted from one room to the other by zoom, with a mask, with very little possibility for the removed half of the class to interact because of only one microphone. There it would make a lot more sense to have a real zoom meeting, let everybody stay at home, and then the benefits of online setups would or could apply. But like this - it is completely frustrating.

So - what is happening? Not much. I am trying to study for my upcoming exams at a desk which was not intended to be the site of this. And which suffers heavily from my inability to maintain order.

Written and oral exams will take place in the end of July. Things should look better by then.

But I do hope to be able to put in a few sewing hours before that, too, to finish some of the little stuff that I started. Meanwhile, my creativity goes into baking. Rhubarb pie. With a new trick to make it look so yellow...

And it was VERY good.